The police investigating a mass stabbing on an English train on Saturday say there is nothing to suggest it was a terrorist attack.
Speaking from outside Huntingdon Station, British Transport Police Superintendent John Loveless said the two men arrested over the attack remained in custody.
“At this stage, there is nothing to suggest it was a terrorist incident,” he said.
Ten people were taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge following the incident, with nine believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries at the time.
“Four have since been discharged, however two patients remain with life-threatening injuries,” Superintendent Loveless said
British Transport Police said the attack had nevertheless been declared a major incident and counterterrorism officers were still supporting the investigation.
Huntingdon MP Ben Obese-Jecty told the ABC that the incident could have been a lot worse if not for the swift action of railway workers.
“The attack took place shortly after the train left … it wasn’t scheduled to stop at Huntingdon, which is the next stop, it was on a fast line to the next stop,” he said.
“It’s down to the swift action of the railways to be able to get the train onto the slower line so that it was able to stop at Huntingdon, which has multiple lines running through it.
“And it was only because it stopped at Huntington that people were able to get off the train and that the police were able to respond.
“If the train had gone to Stevenage, it would have been another 10 or so minutes of the attacker being on the train with individuals trapped on the train with them.”
Huntingdon MP Ben Obese-Jecty says the incident “could have been a lot worse”, if not for the swift action of the railway authorities and workers. (ABC: Syan Vallance)
Britain’s defence minister, John Healey, said early indications were that the stabbing was “an isolated attack”.
“The early assessment is that this was an isolated incident, an isolated attack,” Mr Healey told Sky News on Sunday.
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